The Rebellion of Steel
by answer777
Summary: Twenty years have passed since the defeat of Madara Uchiha, and a new generation of shinobi are ready to uphold the torch. Noe of the North, the Steel Shogun is rallying his forces in the Land of Steel. Will the new generation be able to face such a threat?
1. Chapter 1: A sick beginning

**The setting is post-war based on my own predictions on how the series is going to end. I hope to write a story about how the lives of the next generation of ninja change after Madara's attack and explore the relations between ninjas and other factions. The story takes place around 20 years after the manga, and many of the characters are children of the original cast.**

"Talking"

"_Thoughts_"

* * *

A class of young, talented students enter the academy to learn the secret arts of ninjutsu...each having their separate goals. For some, it was for power, others it was for girls, but for the rest, it was because they couldn't find a job elsewhere"

At the age of 8, Sam'Qu was finally given permission to attend the academy of ninja arts. As Sam'Qu stared at the top of the school, the thoughts of becoming a full-fledged ninja made his heart race. All the privileges that he never could have would become reality. But best of all, the girl of his dreams would fall for him and he would never let her go.

As Sam'Qu was spacing out towards the sky, someone from behind shoved him to the ground.

"If you're not gonna go inside, at least don't block the entrance," said the mysterious figure.

Sam'Qu, picking himself up from the ground, glared indignantly at the stranger. "What's your problem?"

"Your face." replied the child.

"Tell me your name and I'll remember it," said Sam'Qu. "I'll make you regret it in the future that you've crossed paths with me."

"The name is Kain Uchiha," replied the kid snarkily. "I don't care about what you do in your hopeless future. Just don't let me see that face again, or else I'll kick it everytime I see it."

"Wait!" cried Sam'Qu. "Could you possibly be the son of Sasuke Uchiha?!"

"Hmph," said Kain. "At least you aren't as clueless as you look."

Sam'Qu stood up and brushed himself off as he watches Kain strode into the classroom. A tear formed in the corner of his eye as he realized he had already lost his first confrontation in the ninja world.

On the other side of town, one young lady was breathing hard, running while dropping her apples as she was headed off to the academy of ninja arts. Just as the final morning bell rang, she rushed through the door and almost knocking down her sensei.

"Sorry, umm…what's your name?" asked the young lady.

"it would be Iruka-sensei," replied Iruka. "Why don't you introduce yourself to everyone since you're late and find a seat."

"Sorry Iruka-sensei. Hi everyone, my name is Kimmi, please take care of me," said Kimmi. With the apology made, Kimmi glanced around the class and found a seat between two boys.

Even though it was the first day of class, Kimmi wasn't able to pay attention to Iruka-sensei's lectures. Fighting the urge to doze off, she looked at both boys sitting beside her. Deciding that there was nothing else to do, she introduced herself.

"Hey, my name is Kimmi," she whispered softly. "What's your name?"

"I already know your name, you don't need to repeat it," repeat the guy to her left. "The name is Kain Uchiha if you must know."

'_Wow, that guy just turned me off_,' thought Kimmi. '_Such a meany'_

"What's your name?" Kimmi asked the boy to her right.

" Hey, my name is An, but you can call me Ahn~.Er.. Kimmi, if you don't mind, could you sit somewhere else? You're going to mess up the operation." said Ahn~, pointing at a vertically challenged boy sitting 2 seats away.

'_Huh, a cheater?' _thought Kimmi. _ 'I can't let him succeed.'_

"Oh sorry, Iruka-sensei said we can't switch seats without permission." Kimmi replied cheekily.

"You think you're so smart...Just watch me." Ahn~ snapped back, brimming with confidence that surprised Kimmi.

"I hope all of you have been paying attention," Iruka-sensei suddenly cried out. "As I've said before, there is a test on everything I have said about crocodiles so far. This academy doesn't need slackers."

Everyone suddenly pulled themselves together at the announcement. No one had really wanted to sit through a lecture that was about crocodiles, so no one really gave a damn.

Iruka, on the other hand, saw this as an opportunity to filter out the "hard-working" from the "hopeless ones". While handing out the test, there was no guilt in his eyes as several students were on the verge of tears to the thought of failing the test. Others were apathetic while some even gave Iruka-sensei a little smirk.

The recess bell rang, signaling the time for the students to hand in their paper. Everyone then went outside to either play on the ninja monkey-bars or to talk about the test results.

Kimmi, knowing she didn't do as well as she hoped, walked around to see if there were others who also performed poorly.

Turning aside, she bumped into a boy, who was slightly taller than her with chubby cheeks. "Hey, you're Juutan right? The one at the dango store last week. Do you remember me?"

Juutan, with a dull look in his eyes, stared at Kimmi with a confused look. "Nope, there's too many people at the dango store for me to remember. But how did you do on that test?"

"I don't think I did that well," replied Kimmi. "I got stuck between a snob and a cheater who distracted me from the lesson."

"Aww," said Juutan humbly. "That's too bad. But I didn't do that good either. I just hope I pass."

Upon hearing Juutan's words, Kimmi felt a lot better. Not long after, the sound of a bell came through and the classes resumed.

"Alright class, I am both surprised and disappointed," announced Iruka-sensei. "It seems that there were people who paid close attention to my class while some were just lazy. To encourage you all to do better next time, I will be announcing the top three scores and the bottom three. Please come and get your test when your name is called."

"Sam'Qu-kun, work harder next time. I'm sure there's some role you can fill in society."

"Nara-kun, you passed with 50%, but answer all the questions next time instead of only half."

"Kimmi-kun, nice try, but I expected more from you."

"And for our top three in the class, we have Kain-kun, Ahn~ kun and Juutan-kun. The rest of you did ok, but try harder next time. Also, take note that I've realized that some of these test answers look very similar. Would you look at that, Ahn~ Kun and Kain-Kun had the exact same answers. Now we will continue the lesson on female crocodiles during the winter."

Kimmi looked at her test and blamed herself for not paying closer attention. But it really irked her that the two people beside her had the highest scores in the test. To top that Juutan, who had previously claimed he did terrible, scored in the top three.

Today was a loss for Kimmi. Realizing this, she promised herself to not only work harder, but also play the biggest prank ever on the ones that made her feel like a fool that day.

That same afternoon, a student named Al Lan was studying at the library. Although it was only the first day of class, he did not wish to fall behind. Already concerned about not reaching the top three in his class, Al Lan buried himself with books that contained information from crocodiles eating their young to pregnant crocodiles. Little did he know, his studying would bear no fruits as Iruka plans for the next test, beavers.

On her way home, Kimmi noticed two boys of similar height walking on the same path as she was.

"Kain-san, wait for me!" Kimmi yelled while running to catch up with Kain and his companion.

Once she caught her breath, Kimmi looked up and studied the child's face. To her surprise, he looked identical to Kain, the only difference was his tendency to smile over to smirk.

"Hey, my name is Jayce Uchiha, but you can call me Jay for short. I see you've met my brother. We're actually in the same class, but Kain can't hear as well from the back so I volunteered to give him my spot in the front."

"Brother? But that would mean that you guys are..."

"Twins, no shi-, I mean, yeah, babe." Kain corrected himself. He did not expect to use that many explicits on the first day of school and let his guard down. "He's a piece of trash though, so don't mind him. Everyone in our family says he's an embarrassment and we can't wait till he gets himself killed on his first mission."

"Only you say that Oni-chan," said Jay with a warm smile that radiated kindness. "Even Tou-san says I'm physically more talented than you so I really doubt I'll die first."

Kimmi was stunned by the polarizing personalities of the two twins. While one was a smooth-talking ladies' man, the other was docile, but by no means feeble.

"You know, there are a lot of things humans can actually learn from beavers," whispered Kain to Kimmi. "Their technology with building dams is really quite astounding. Oh, by the way, did you know that beavers hold each other's hands in their sleep so they don't drift apart?"

"Awh that's so sweet 3 Maybe we do have a few things to learn from beavers.." replied Kimmi, with a slight blush on her cheeks.

"Oh right, you mentioned something about star gazing the other day. Are you interested in horoscopes? I'm an Aries, you?" Kain asked, faking curiosity.

Kimmi took a sideways peek at Kain's face. "Oh, me too!" spurted Kimmi. She panicked as she tried to keep the conversation going. "What about your brother?"

"...We're twins..." replied Jay, without a hint of sarcasm.

"Ugh, don't remind me," muttered Kain under his breath.

"Right...I'm such a dunce.. Uhhh h-have you ever been star gazing? I'd like to try sometime." Kimmi's mind at this point was blank, not realizing that she had basically just asked Kain out. After an awkward pause where Kain didn't answer, Kimmi looked up from her shoes at Kain.

Kain refocused his eyes on the path as he realized that he was spacing out, paying no attention to either Kimmi or his brother. "I'm sorry what?"

"N-n-nevermind nevermind."

* * *

Ahn~ woke up with a fright. Turning around to look at the clock, he realized he it was already ten minutes into class and he was still undressed. He wished that there was some device that would allow him to have long distance talks so he would be able to feign illness for the day.

Not wanting to waste any more precious time, he rushed out his door and ran towards the academy. Ahn~ wished to have learned the shunshin faster so running would no longer become a chore.

As Ahn~ ran past the ramen store, he spotted his classmate Macku slurping down a chicken noodle soup. "Hey Macku-san, don't you have school today?"

"Yep," replied Macku. "I'm trying to finish it as fast as I can, but it seems I'm not the fastest eater."

"Well, I guess I'll just wait for you and then we'll just go to school together."

By the time Ahn~ and Macku arrived at the Ninja Academy, it was already recess. It was probably the best moment to sneak back into class unnoticed by Iruka-sensei.

Iruka-sensei at the front of the room knew the two irresponsible students had just walked in but chose to ignore them. "Alright class, take out your pens and put your dividers up, we're gonna have a pop quiz on beavers."

'_Oh snap_" thought Macku, a thought shared with the rest of the class. Ahn~, however was unfazed by this announcement. Kimmi was confused by Ahn~'s confidence, especially since he does nothing in class except for sleep.

Noticing Kimmi staring at him, Ahn~ laughed at her puzzled expression, "If you don't keep your eyes on me, you're going to lose me."

As the test commenced, Ahn~, scouted the room for potential targets. His usual targets, Kain and Juutan, were blocked by Kimmi's deliberate attempts to stop him from achieving his goal.

"_Hah, she thinks this will stop me. That's cute."_

Little did Kimmi know, Ahn~ came from a notable family in Konoha. Born as a member of the Hyuga clan, Ahn~ was blessed with the Byakugan, the famed "All-Seeing Eye", a heavily coveted dōjutsu that gave its owner 360 degree vision. Not only were Kimmi's attempts to block his vision futile, Ahn~ could copy directly off Iruka-sensai's answer key if he wanted to.

Having memorized Iruka-sensei's rotational pattern when checking for cheaters, Ahn~ smoothly completed his task and handed in his test 20 minutes earlier than the end of class. However, it was Juutan who managed to beat him by 10 minutes, surprising even Iruka-sensei, who has taught geniuses of the past, like Sasuke Uchiha and Neji Hyuga..

Meanwhile, at the desk right next to Ahn~, Kimmi was confident she would ace this test. The endless hours of studying she put in last night would surely result in the defeat of Juutan and Kain. She was also determined to put an end to Ahn~'s cheating, albeit, her attempts only seem to elicit subtle giggles instead.

* * *

Twilight is a quiet hour for the Hokage's office. Deep in thought, the sixth hokage was discussing with his secret council about the looming threat that spreading like wildfire in the ninja world.

"We have to act now!" exclaimed Sakura Haruno, "The samurai have already taken over the Iwagakure and are advancing towards Takigakure and Kusagakure."

"I agree," said Sai, in his trademark stoic tone, "Noe of the North does not seem to have any intent on stopping his conquest and we can't afford to risk our children's futures."

"I glad you brought up youth," Shikamaru snapped back, "If we were to go to war right now, we're going to have to send our children who are still in ninja academy to the battlefield! I don't think you remember the how bad the casualties we suffered from the Fourth Shinobi Great War were."

Everyone in the room lowered their heads as they remembered the ones they lost in their war against Madara and Obito, especially Neji, whose valiant sacrifice still gave Hinata many sleepless nights over the years.

After a coup d'etat in the Land of Iron, Noe Muramasa, the rebellion leader, was named Shogun and began his conquest to conquer the ninja lands. His notorious ruthlessness and background has lead others to know him as simply Noe of the North, the Steel Shogun.

"So, what's it gonna be?" asked Sasuke Uchiha, "You're the boss, right?"

The sixth hokage put his hands on his face. He imagined all the possible scenarios of declaring war against Noe and what impact it would have on the next generation. However, in the midst of his troubles, he couldn't help by laugh as he remembered his naivety as a child, when he would do nothing but dream to sit on the chair he sits now.

"Well if I was still 16, I would have never backed out of a fight," said the Hokage whose childish behaviour belied his wisdom, "but I have no intention of sending my 8 year old son to a bar, let alone a battlefield. My friends, let us sit and watch vigilantly at how the Steel Shogun acts."

With that said, the council of Konoha's heroes was dismissed. However, they all knew their time of peace was coming to an end.

* * *

**A/N: Put down a review to see how I did. This will be a lot longer lasting unlike my other stories :p**


	2. Chapter 2

**(4 years later)**

"The sakura look beautiful this year, don't they?" Kimmi looked back on the group of recently graduated shinobi. "I can't believe we're already genin. All those days of doing tests and throwing shurikens. It all went by like a blur."

Over the past four years, the children have bonded into a tight-knit group. Kimmi's walks home with Kain and Jay gave her insight on the Uchiha's tragic past and their motivations.

Ahn~ and Macku perfected their strategy as Macku would distract students with the Yamanaka clan's trademark Mind Body Switch Technique, while Ahn~ swooped in for the kill.

Al-Lan continued to work ten times as hard as others, only to marvel at how Juutan would score the highest on each test.

"Couldn't have stood another minute in that damn place," sniveled Kain. "A waste of time for talent like us. Wait, I guess Sam'Qu and Jay could've used a few more years learning how to spell."

"Hey, I still haven't forgotten about the first day of school, Kain." Sam'Qu was glad he graduated ninja academy. His marks were less than stellar, but his dad was a problem child too and he turned out just fine. "Don't piss me off or else you'll need Jay to save your hide again."

"Guys, stop arguing, aren't you excited to be put in teams as real ninjas?" Jay said as he tried to separate Sam'Qu and Kain.

"YES! DON'T WORRY GUYS, I'VE DONE ALL THE RESEARCH! WE'RE EITHER GETTING VIN-SENSEI OR …." Al Lan paused to catch his breath and push up his glasses. "OR ROLEN-SENSEI!"

"I heard Vin-sensei is known as Vin the Silver Flute," Ahn~ added. "I wonder how he obtained that title..."

"But according to my research, he wasn't originally a Leaf-Nin. I heard he was originally from the Land of the Mist and a missin-"

"Rolen-sensei? Hmm, wasn't he the ninja prodigy of the sarutobi clan? " Macku cut Al Lan off. "I heard he was able to summon Enma, the monkey king, at the age of 16 and many speculate he might even surpass his grandfather, the third Hokage."

"Settle down kids," 'I'm too old for this ruckus' Iruka-sensei complained. "Stand up as I call your name."

"Akimichi Juutan. Aburame Al Lan. Nara Bk." Iruka-sensei said in a serious tone, "you will form Team 1 under Konohamaru-sensei."

"What but my calcula-" Al Lan whined.

"Some prediction Al Lan," the enigmatic Bk sneered.

(more names are called)

"Qun Kimmi."

'Please put me in a team with Kain and Jay,' wished Kimmi, 'and preferably far and away from that weirdo Ahn~ .

"Uchiha Kain."

'YES!,' Kimmi squealed in her head as she held her hands together to pray.

"and Uchiha Jay will be Team 6 under Rolen-sensei.

'Arigatou Kami-sama!" Kimmi almost fainted from glee.

"Welp...there goes the only kunoichi in our grad class," Ahn~ commented. A deep but quiet sigh could be felt resonating amongst the teenage boys.

"Hyuga An. Shimura Macku."

"Ha, these poor fools got stuck with that loser Sam'Qu," Kain laughed, "I have to say, I feel sorry for them."

"Yeah, if they're with Sam'Qu, they'll be the biggest joke of a team," commented Kimmi as she tries to impress Kain.

"Come to think of it, I never knew which clan Sam'Qu came from..." Jay mused.

"Me neither..."

"Who cares."

"And Uzumaki Sam'Q-"

"WHAT?!" An uproar exploded from the crowd as the wimpy ninja-wannabe was revealed to be the son of the legendary ninja hero who almost single-handedly saved the world. As the uproar was finally reduced to whispers and exchanging glances, Iruka-sensei continued,

"And Uzumaki Sam'Qu will form Team 7 under the instruction of Vin-sensei."

"Hey what's up, Cous?" Ahn~ high-fived Sam'Qu as he walked up the podium. "I think we're beyond stacked."

"Real," added Macku, as he waved at his father Sai.

Whispers and murmurs from the crowd grew louder. A former missing-nin as a teacher? And what's more, teaching the offspring of the nine-tails jinchuriki, the Hyuga clan, and the director of the ANBU? The crowd shivered at the thought of a rebellion lead by these shinobi.

However, the Uchiha twins being placed on the same team was also a surprise. Although their sharingans have not activated, many people expect great things from these two ridiculously talented genin. Kimmi, however, has not garnered much interest except for being the sole female of the class.

Standing on the podium, Sam'Qu's face gleamed with pride and joy. He was finally a real shinobi and a member of Team 7, which his father was once part of as well. He looked over to his cousin Ahn~, who shot him a grin, and wondered how proud their mothers were to see them both as genin. As he scanned the crowd, he noticed Vin-sensei studying his team. It hurt Sam'Qu that Kimmi was on Kain's team instead of his, and it only deepened the wound to see her dance and laugh with her new teammates. 'I guess she only has eyes for Kain afterall.' Noticing Sam'Qu's dejected expression, Ahn~ patted his cousin's back to comfort him.

As soon as the ceremony was over, Vin-sensei walked up to the genin of Team 7 and told them to meet him at the Third Training Ground tomorrow morning. Vin-sensei was a tall, lean man, with long white hair the colour of freshly fallen snow. Dressed in long white robes with his trademark silver flute on his waist, Vin's attire and gestures gave off a regal elegance one wouldn't expect from a former missing-nin; however, the aura of spine-chilling deadliness that resonated from their new sensei validated all the harrowing rumors they heard about The Silver Flute.

* * *

(The next morning)

On the way to the Third Training Ground, Sam'Qu felt prepared for anything. "You know, I've heard stories from my dad, we're probably going to do the bell training today."

"Yeah, I think so too. Vin-sensei will be surprised when he finds out we're so prepared," Ahn~ smirked as he too was given tips by Hanabi Hyuga, his mother.

"But where's Macku? Doesn't he usually go to school with you?" Sam'Qu said as he looked around for his new teammate.

"Probably slept in, old habits never change." Ahn~ nonchalantly replied.

A gust of wind blew across Ahn~'s face and suddenly appearing before him was Vin-sensei.

"I see there's only two of you here," said Vin-sensei. "Where's the last lacky?"

"I'm here!" a voice shouted from afar. "Sorry, I'm late. The new ramen chef burnt his eggs again."

"A great first impression," mocked Vin-sensei. "Now let's get down to business and defeat the samurai. Did they send me daughters, when I asked for sons? Today, we're gonna do a training exercise with bells."

"I KNEW IT!" exclaimed Sam'Qu. "This will be a piece of cake."

Ahn~ and Macku looked at Sam'Qu, wondering why their weakest link had such confidence. Little did they know that Sam'Qu had secretly brought a stack of hidden pornos in his backpack, ready to use them to ambush his sensei at moment's notice. His old man told him this trick would work on any full grown ninja that had the dominant male trait.

"Are you done Sam'Qu?" asked Vin-sensei. "I don't remember you being in charge here."

Sam'Qu scratched his head with a sheepish look. "Sorry Vin-sensei."

"Anyways, today's exercise is simple," announced Vin-sensei. "I have one bell; there's three of you. First one to place the bell in my hand gets treated to a lifetime supply of ramen. You may use any means to capture the bell and deliver it to me."

With that said, Vin, whose face had a gracious smirk, threw the bell in between the three young genins and dematerialized into thin air.

The three genin were dazzled at the sudden exercise given by their new sensei.

Ahn~, who was the cheeky one of the three, decided to play it safe. "You know what guys, I think this is a trick. Vin-sensei is probably testing our teamwork. Let's just figure out the 'true meaning' behind this test."

Sam'Qu, who had already heard of the details from his old man, was quickly lured in by Ahn~'s sly words. "Hey! That's exactly what my old man had said. Although I'm kinda stumped at the moment because I've never seen a test like this."

Macku, on the other hand, wasn't going to be easily fooled by Ahn~. Because they were childhood friends, Macku was able to see through Ahn~'s ploy. Instead of waiting to talk over the 'meaning behind the exercise', Macku rushed forward at the bell.

Ahn~, seeing Macku dash forward, had already anticipated this beforehand and also joined the attempt to reach the bell first. This left a dazzled Sam'Qu staring at the two. Sam'Qu realized he had been tricked and also made an attempt at the bell. The first to reach the bell however, was Ahn~, who lunged at his target, throwing his body onto the ground.

Macku, who predicted Ahn~'s bashful characteristics, leaned back as he saw Ahn~ making a dash for the bell. The moment Ahn~'s hand made contact with the bell, it left his whole body very vulnerable.

Macku, seeing an angry looking Sam'Qu running at Ahn~, stuck a leg out and tripped him, forcing Sam'Qu to land on Ahn~'s back. Seeing how Sam'Qu was on top of Ahn~, Macku found it funny to just sit on top of them.

With the two unable to move, Macku was able to grasp the bell in his fingertips when a soothing melody filled the air. As the music reached their ears, Ahn~ and Macku suddenly stop fighting for the bell. Instead, they join hands and begin dancing in circles with gleeful joy.

Sam'Qu was speechless as he stared at his friends in disbelief. "What happened to them?"

"Its pretty funny right?" Vin-sensei materialized soundlessly next to Sam'Qu. His joke however did not elicit any laughter. "Come on, if you don't laugh at it, then it's just mean..."

The students, expecting to have their skills tested, were quite frustrated at their sensei's sense of humour.

"...Well, the deal's still on kids," Vin-sensei added, noticing that the kids were scarily bloodthirsty.

The two cousins instantly punched Macku, who still had the bell between his fingers, in the face and swiped for the bell. Although only milliseconds apart, it was clear that the more dexterous Ahn~ came out ahead with the bell. As Ahn~ was about to place the bell in Vin-sensei's hands, he realized that Vin-sensei was waving from a distant tree.

Macku shortly recovered from the punches and gave Ahn~ a death glare. It was evident that the two have had a long-running rivalry as childhood friends. Without hesitation, Ahn~ activated his byakugan, and Macku took out a small red scroll and pulled out a brush from the roller.

"Iruka-sensei never let us duel," Macku commented, "It's about time we settled the score."

'If I let them exhaust themselves, I'll have the upperhand!' Sam'Qu smirked from the sidelines, crossing his arms while he sits down on a rock..

ZWIP! Macku furiously scribbled some doodles on the scroll as Ahn~ rushed towards him.

"Ninpou: Chōjū Giga!"

"Ahh, the Beast Scroll Replication Technique," mused Vin-sensei, "it seems these kids are more prepared than I thought."

Life-sized puppies and rabbits made of ink sprung from the scroll, launching themselves towards the charging Ahn~. Ahn~ flinched momentarily, but soon realized that the imitation drawings were just licking and sniffing him.

'Perhaps I spoke a tad too soon.' Vin-sensei corrected.

Ahn~ channeled chakra to his palms and destroyed the ink puppies and rabbits with his left hand while putting the bell safely in his pouch with his right. Macku quickly threw three shurikens while Ahn~ was distracted, but they were quickly deflected by Ahn~'s chakra infused palms.

'Although all the shurikens were on point, his throws seem a little weak.' Vin-sensei noted.

Ahn~ was within striking distance in a flash, but Macku proved to be more nimble than his usual sleepy, clumsy self would suggest. Macku slid to the right as Ahn~ approached with a strike to the left, and slid to the left when Ahn~ aimed for Macku's right. Macku tried to counterattack with a swift roundhouse kick after dodging, but Ahn~ stopped the kick with his arm and landed a clean hit on Macku's solar plexus. Within seconds Macku was on the floor, writhing in pain. Ahn~ only had a moment to enjoy his victory before Sam'Qu sneakily approached from behind.

"RASENGAN!" Yelled Sam'Qu as his attack was about to connect.

'WHAT IN TH -' Vin-sensei thought, shocked that Sam'Qu managed to use an A-ranked jutsu without proper training as a ninja.

Ahn~ on the other hand, wasn't so shocked. He saw the attack with his byakugan and suavely replied by slightly dodging to the side. Sam'Qu tried to stop himself, but had too much momentum in his leap and fell to his defeat. His rasengan connected with the ground, creating a multitude of circles in the dirt.

'Though it seems he hasn't fully mastered the Rasengan yet. Also, his chakra flow seems very ...uncontrolled... could it be?.. That sly fox." Vin-sensei thought, a little impressed with the skill of his new students.

Macku slowly got up, withering in pain. Before long his eyes were on the bell, which was lying on the ground. 'It must have fallen during Sam'Qu's feeble attempt with the rasengan.' Macku, seeing how the others were unaware of the bell beneath their noses, rushed forward and picked up the bell.

Ahn~, with the byakugan, immediately chased after Macku as he knew exactly what just happened. Ahn~ was running as if his life depended on it with Sam'Qu not far behind. But it was too late, as Macku jumped the final steps and placed the bell onto Vin-sensei's hand.

"I won, I won!" exclaimed Macku, laughing at his two other teammates.

"Sorry to disappoint you Macku-kun," said Vin-sensei, "but I actually wanted you to place the bell on my left hand, not the right... I'm just kidding, the test was simple. If you guys had placed it onto my hand without fighting at all, you guys would've passed. But since you were unable to do so, you have all failed your diagnostic.

"WHAT KINDA BULLS-," Macku couldn't finish his line before Ahn~ audaciously darted towards Vin-sensei with his byakugan activated.

"Eight Trigrams: 2 PALMS. 4 PALMS... 8 PALMS... 16 PALMS."

Vin-sensei effortlessly blocked all of Ahn~'s attacks, even slowing down on purpose to match Ahn~'s pace. "Not bad... could use a little speed, but not bad at all."

Shocked that his attack was dismissed so simply, Ahn~ tried to shunshin away from Vin-sensei, but he was too late as Vin-sensei kicked him in the stomach. "ACHK!" gagged Ahn~ as he clutched his stomach in pain and landed on his fellow teammates. The kick was so strong it blew a hole on the back of Ahn~'s shirt and sent a blast of air that swayed the branches. Vin-sensei then pulled out his flute again and played a soft note as the red tassel attached to the end of the flute swerved in the wind.

"NO! Don't let him play his flu-" Macku could not finish his sentence as he dropped snoring on the ground. Ahn~ and Sam'Qu followed suit as Vin-sensei prepared some rope.

* * *

Meanwhile, at the entrance of the Nara Clan Forest, Team 6 was assigned a different training assignment. Rolen Sarutobi, a relatively young instructor, decided to have some fun with with his team.

"So it appears we have the only kunoichi of this grad class in our team. Interesting. Well here's the exercise. You will find I have snuck a bell into Kimmi's pouch. Your task is simple. Before the clock tower hits noon, your job will be to protect that bell from me as I attempt to take it from her."

'Oh my god I'm going to be protected by Kain 3'' Inner Kimmi squealed.

"3,2,1,TIME TO GET ROLLINN!" bellowed Rolen sensei.

'Ha, as if I'm going to protect this wench. I don't even like her,' thought Kain. He too was excited, but not at playing the hero, but rather at the chance of taking on a real Jonin.

Ever since the teams were made, Jay had not taken his eyes off Kimmi. His devoted love for her began from their first encounter, when he saw her chasing after them after the first day of ninja academy. While Kimmi was not especially beautiful, he found himself inexplicably in love with her, willing to go to extreme lengths just to make her smile. Knowing that Kimmi only had eyes for Kain pained his heart dearly, but he hid his pain behind his kind words and warm smiles. Several times Jay had told Kain to return Kimmi feeling's, only to be turned away and ridiculed by his twin brother. While he knew full-heartedly that his love for her would most-likely be forever unrequited, Jay swore he would protect Kimmi, even at the cost of his own life.

Despite his crude remarks, Kain too had feelings for Kimmi. From the first day he met her, Kimmi had captured Kain's heart. His feelings had only grown throughout the years as the trio grew closer. However, being aware of Jay's affections, Kain could not bring himself to reveal his emotions, fully aware of the heartbreak Jay would suffer. In order to maintain the "harmonious" relationship that the three shared, Kain convinced himself that his affections for Kimmi were simply distractions, and that he should focus on becoming stronger instead.

The thought of the Uchiha brothers protecting her excited Kimmi, for reasons she could not comprehend. Throughout the years of ninja academy, Kimmi had developed feelings for her fellow Shinobi, some more than others. While it pained her to choose her favourite, she knew that she felt most strongly for Kain. However, she could not bring herself to forsake her feelings for the others. Realizing that she was distracted, Kimmi slapped herself awake to focus on the mission. Now's not the time for this.

Jumping from tree to tree, with Jay in the back, Kimmi in the middle, and Kain in front, the trio advanced deeper into the forest in hopes of losing their sensei. Rolen-sensei leaned against a tree as he counted to a thousand, since Kimmi pleaded for him to give them have a head start. 697...967...wait that's not right. Too lazy to restart from zero, Rolen walked towards the shade and glanced at his watch. The time was 10:00, which meant he had 2 hours to defeat both Uchihas and abduct Kimmi. "2 hours? I think I'll go grab myself a bowl of ramen first then."

With that said, Rolen-sensei began strolling back to the village, while his team of genin were fleeing deeper into the forest to avoid him.

* * *

"Mmm this ramen is really good. Thanks, sensei," said Juutan in-between mouthfuls of noodles.

Konohamaru, indulging in the newest volume 8 of the Picha Picha series, paid no attention to his students.

'This is so stupid, we should be training. My ninjutsu isn't getting any better and the samurai aren't retreating any farther,' thought Al Lan.

The laconic Bk kept silent, slurping away in the corner.

"Hey Bk, why are you always so gloomy?" asked Juutan, beginning to get fed up with his too-cool-for-school teammate.

"Well I mean if the Yamanaka clan bothered to produce a girl, we wouldn't be stuck with this... bookworm. Now we won't be able to continue the tradition of the Ino Shika Cho team. If only we had a Yamanaka, we could be the most unstoppable squad."

Deep inside, Al Lan knew Bk was right. With that, the rest of the meal remained awkwardly silent, interrupted only by the occasional giggle from Konohamaru as he continued to read his book.

The painful silence was broken with the entrance of young Jonin. "Hey, Konohamaru, my favourite elder cousin! So what are you guys doing?"

Konohamaru was too focused on his work at hand to reply, so Al Lan replied for him. "We're eating ramen here wasting time instead of training. It's ridiculous, right sensei?"

Rolen arched an eyebrow at Konohamaru after Al Lan's response, "Is this kid for real?"

"Realer than you would imagine." whispered Konohamaru whose eyes were still hard at work.

Rolen shook his head in disbelief as he tried to fight back a smirk. "Nevermind senpai, thanks for showing me how blessed my life is."

* * *

"Huh. What happened?" Sam'Qu asked as he woke up, "wait why are we tied to the ceiling of a change room?"

"Wait what?" Ahn~ said, waken by Sam'Qu's voice, "b-but how come there are no urinals..."

"Aigh," said Macku, the last one to wake up, "this is the girls changeroom of the local bath."

"Wait how do you know?" The cousins said in unison.

"Vin-sensei probably tied us up as punishment for failing," Macku suggested, ignoring the question.

"It's ok though," Sam'Qu optimistically theorized, "no one goes for a bath in the afternoon...right?"

"Can't wait to go in the bath after Rolen-sensei's brutal training session~" said a girl with a voice particularly familiar to the boys, "this bra has been really tight lately."

"Oh god," Macku whispered, holding back the blood rushing to his head as the kunoichi undid her bra. He turned his head to look at his friends, who were just as red-faced as he was.

"It's ok guys calm down, Kimmi's not particularly strong," Ahn~ said as he tried to convince his friends their plight was not as bad as it seemed, "after all, we all learned how to get out of ropes in Iruka-sensei's class right?"

"Sorry, I was sleeping," Macku whispered gravely.

Despite their predicament, the young boys were feasting their eyes with the sight of their lives. However, as Kimmi's bra slid down her back, a whiff of steam blocked their vision. The boys were about to tear up, but they were startled by the sound of more footsteps.

"So they were like 'your term as Hokage was so easy, you were in a coma for half the time', HA! Ignorant fools, if I didn't save everyone during Pain's invasion, they wouldn't even be alive now!" A loud thunderous voice roared from the end of the hall.

The boys instantly felt more afraid than ever before in their lives.

"...Is that...Tsunade Ba-san?" whispered one.

"...yes...I'm afraid that's the 5th Hokage," whispered another.

"They said she was as strong as the 4th Raikage didn't they?"

"They said she was stronger."

"Well look on the bright side, I saw her last week, and she looked like she's still in her 30s."

"..."

"...Why do I feel Jiraya-sama was in a similar situation 40 years ago?"

"Don't be so angry all the time Tsunade-sama, it's not good for your health" said Moegi-san.

"HAHA! Don't worry about it. I'm still breaking boulders in my spare time so I don't get rusty!"

The boys made inaudible gulps as cold sweat ran down their back.

"Psst. Guys I have an idea," claimed Sam'Qu, "as long as we can use the rope-breaking-free technique to untie our hands, we can do the seal for techniques! My old man taught me one perfect for this situation. He coined it Oiroke no Jutsu (Sexy no Jutsu)."

"The legendary Oiroke no Jutsu? That's brilliant!" exclaimed the other two in a low voice.

Ahn~ was the only one able to break free from the rope partially. He then swiftly untied the hands of the other two boys.

"Oiroke no Jutsu!" The trio said softly. In a flash, they became three beautiful young mistresses in distress.

"Help!" yelled Sam'Qu in his girliest voice.

"Huh? Why are you three dangling from the ceiling?" asked Tsunade, a little taken by surprise by their presence.

"A prankster used a genjutsu on us and tied us up!" cried Ahn~ in a very ahn~ voice.

"How could someone do such a thing," said Moegi, "we'll get you down right away."

As soon as the boys were untied, they bolted out the change room, knowing their transformation technique would not last much longer. Ahn~ couldn't help but squeeze a peek at the girls, but the steam seemed to perfectly censor his vision.

"Odd bunch," commented Tsunade, "I think they might be able to become brilliant kunoichis with their speed."

"Phew, that was TOO CLOSE!" said Ahn~, "I think a punch from Tsunade Ba-chan would be enough to kill me 4 times."

"I guess this is what they call a near-death experience." added Sam'Qu. "I never want to be in there again."

The childhood friends, however, had different thoughts.

"I still have enough chakra to transform a bit more," winked Macku. Ahn~ winked back, saying "I'm thinking what you're thinking" with his body language.

"I don't think this is a good idea..." warned Sam'Qu despite secretly wanting to join in.

"Transformation technique!"

A puff of smoke veiled the two of the members of Team 7 as they ran back into the public shower.

"Oh, what the heck!" Sam'Qu succumbed to peer pressure and transformed as well.

On a tree at the entrance of the bath sat two Jonins. Vin-sensei, with a pair of binoculars around his neck, was watching them the entire time and was very impressed at their shrewd escape. Sai, on the other hand, was less amused. "I can't say I approve of the way you're teaching my son."

"Don't worry about it," Vin-sensei smiled slyly as he tapped his silver flute on his palm. "I won't let them see anything."

"In all seriousness," Sai's tone suddenly became stern and strict. Naruto and Sakura had taught him to express his emotions, but he never let his emotions affect the serious nature of top secret missions. "Will you accept?"

Vin-sensei had pondered for days. It was a suicide mission. After rubbing his silver flute a few times, he finally decided. "Consider it done."

With that answer, Sai disappeared into the shadows and all there was left was a white-haired man playing a wistful tune on his silver flute.

* * *

Moonlight crept into the Hokage's office as the Council of Heroes arrived one by one. It consisted of the Hokage, his chief advisors, and other notable members of Konoha's top shinobi.

4 years ago, the 6th Hokage made the important decision not to declare war on Noe of the North, the Steel Shogun who ruled the Land of Iron. It was a wise decision, for Konohagakure was not only still recovering from casualties sustained during the 4th Shinobi Great War, but also because Noe's army of samurai was estimated to be ten times the population of Konohagakure.

Sakura Haruno, one of the chief advisors, underestimated the speed and strength of Noe's army, who not only conquered Kusagakure and Takigakure, but also Shimogakure and Otogakure, giving him almost complete control of the continent's north.

All of the other Five Great Shinobi Countries had already declared war on Noe, and the Hokage knew that Konohagakure's involvement was inevitable. However, the Hokage surprised everyone when he signed an 8 year truce with Noe. The purpose behind the truce was to buy time for Sam'Qu to mature, since he was prophesied by the Great Toad Sage to be a legendary figure in ninja history.

4 years after the truce had been established, the ANBU discovered that an army of 200 Samurai had gathered on the outskirts of Konohagakure, fully armed and ready to attack. It was no surprise to the council of heroes that the Steel Shogun would break the truce, since they never expected him to agree to it in the first place. However, in its current state, Konohagakure was not ready for war, so not only could they not accuse Noe of breaking the truce, they could not even openly engage their attackers. They were stuck with one solution, but no one was skilled enough for the job.

"He's here, Hokage-sama." Sai opened the door and lead Vin-sensei into the room where Konoha's heroes discussed their most crucial decisions. "I wish to once again state that I recommend Vin-san for the operation."

"Ah, Vin-san!" said the Hokage as he shook Vin-sensei's hand. "I know you have only arrived to Konoha and on paper it looks like a suicide mission, but we really need your assistance."

"No worries, Sai-san has already briefed me about your problem." Vin-sensei stood in the centre of the council table that formed a circle around him. "What I wish to know is what specifically do you want me to do?"

The hokage rose up his hand and stood up, but he was quickly pushed down by Sasuke Uchiha, the second of three chief advisors. "What we want you to do is your specialty."

"Oh, and that is?" mused Vin-sensei. He loved it when people offered him missions of his specialty, let it be S-ranked or unranked.

"Assassination."answered Sasuke,who flashed his Sharingan as he made an unsettling grin. "We wish to witness the 'Silver Flute' perform his infamous masterpiece: the 'Sonata of Death'."

"It would be my utmost pleasure," said Vin-sensei as he bowed down like a performer would in front of his audience. He couldn't control his facial expression as he instinctively made the same grin as Sasuke's. It was an expression shared by men whose eyes could pierce darkness.

* * *

**A/N: And that's the end of chapter two. Hope you all enjoyed it.**


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